RONNIE JAMES DIO On The Middle East: “It’s A Very Mysterious Place To Us”
October 7, 2005, 18 years ago
Classic Rock site DMME.net (dmme.net) recently spoke with RONNIE JAMES DIO. During the chat the legendary frontman discusses his upcoming trip to the Middle East. The following is an excerpt from the interview:
Q: This is the first time you will go to the Middle East. Still, you used the Eastern inflections before, in songs like ‘Egypt’ or ‘Gates Of Babylon’. Where did that come from?
A: “Because we don't live in that area of the world, I think it's a very mysterious place to us. Of course, it has been mysterious through our history, with all the writings from the Middle East, the Bible, all of the Biblical stories - from all religions, really. I think that that's one thing that I like to do: I like the idea of having to use your imagination to think for yourself what that area is all about. And that's just from historical aspect - but I love the Middle Eastern scales and just the attitude of the music as well. So a piece is written that's very influenced by the Middle Eastern music - that I think is the only thing you can write about - it's things like ‘Egypt’ or ‘Stargazer’.”
The complete interview can be found at this location.
